Duality
by darkrunner
Summary: Bandit Keith learns the hard way that you don't want to meet Yami Bakura at night. Lucky for him, Bakura helps him out. Mangaverse. Duelist Kingdom. Implied Shotshipping for contest.


A/N: Shotshipping Ryou x Bandit Keith for the second-to-last round of Compy's contest! As crack as I ever hope to write. XP Guchi and Shadow, enjoy the final round.

Disclaimer: To Takahashi-sensei does Yuugiou belong, hmm?

* * *

'Bandit' Keith Howard was many things. A good fighter, sadly, was not one of them. He knew how to hit, sure enough, but in an actual fight, he was all but useless. So when Yami Bakura stumbled upon him in the hallways of Pegasus's castle, Keith was just a bit worried.

"Hey, out of my way," Keith said more arrogantly than he felt. He recognized the young white-haired boy, but he wasn't the same quiet youth he'd left in the cave. This one was different, somehow. He had a harder look to his eyes, one that made Keith want to get out of _his_ way.

The other raised his eyes, appraising Keith. He scoffed, and planted himself firmly in the middle of the hallway.

"Out of the way, I said," Keith repeated angrily. Yami Bakura smirked and spread his arms wide, inviting Keith.

"Or what?" he challenged gleefully. Keith's face fell as Bakura approached.

"I'll--" Keith reached into his jacket for his gun, but before he could draw, he was slammed into the wall. When his vision stopped swimming, he saw Bakura standing an impossible distance away, his hand outstretched.

"What'd you do?" Keith stammered, surreptitiously going for the gun again. Bakura flexed his hand again, and Keith was frozen.

"Nothing that you'll remember," Bakura said with a pleasurable growl that sounded more like a purr.

* * *

True his word, when Keith woke up, he didn't remember a thing past hitting the wall and Bakura grinning sadistically.

"Son of a..." he muttered angrily, rubbing his head. He was slumped against a wall in some remote corner of what he assumed was Pegasus's castle. It wasn't any part of the castle that he'd seen, so he had no idea how the hell he was going to get back to his room. He patted his jacket, and to his dismay, his gun was missing. He swore angrily, resolving to kill whoever took it.

"Nng," he groaned, trying to stand up. His legs gave out from under him when he tried to put weight on them and he painfully fell back on his butt.

"...the hell?" he wondered aloud, looking at his injuries. Someone had stabbed him in the leg and tied a crude bandage around the wound. Just noticing it was there made the pain increase. He stifled a cry and slowly tried to pull himself up, standing on his one good leg. He was shaky, but he was up.

He muttered curses to himself as he limped down the hallway. That no-good bastard; he'd pay him back if he ever so much as looked at him again--

Keith tripped and landed face down on the ground. Shouting angrily, he twisted around to see what he'd gotten caught on. His leg was burning again. He tried to ignore it while he peered through the darkness.

"You!" he exclaimed, identifying the unconscious body of Bakura. Keith stared in shock for a few moments, then scowled and kicked with his good leg. It connected solidly with Bakura's shin.

Bakura groaned and rolled over. Keith quickly hauled himself back up, using the wall. He spat at the boy on the floor.

"If I wasn't limping, you'd be," he threatened seriously. Bakura crawled to his hands and knees, glancing up and down the hallway.

"Who's there?" He asked shakily. Keith narrowed his eyes, and, losing his head for a moment, kicked again. As soon as he lifted his good leg, pain shot up his leg through his whole body. Yelling, he slid back to the floor.

Bakura turned around to see Keith cursing behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Bakura asked, confused. Keith spat a few more expletives and looked at Bakura incredulously.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked gruffly. "You dragged me down here, you jagoff."

"Where is here?" Bakura continued, looking around.

"What are you, some kind of idiot?" Keith stared openly, though Bakura didn't notice for trying to get his bearings.

"What happened?" Bakura asked tentatively, afraid of the answer.

"You do anything but ask questions?" Keith asked, annoyed. "Or are you just screwing with me?"

"No," Bakura said honestly. "Not screwing with you."

Keith studied the boy's face. It was definitely the same person who had attacked him in the hall. There was no mistaking that pale hair. Somehow, though, his face was different. There was something about his attacker that made Keith cringe and want to run away. This kid's face was the same as the one from the cave. His eyes were innocent and his features less harsh. For a reason he couldn't quite identify, Keith humored the kid.

"You attacked me in the hall." Well, it was close enough to true. Keith wasn't sure how to say that this guy's apparent evil twin had attacked him. "Must've stabbed me, or something, and took my gun."

"Stabbed you?" Bakura repeated, extremely concerned. He shuffled closer, and Keith instinctively shied away.

"Get away," he muttered, but Bakura didn't listen.

"The ring must've..." he muttered to himself. "I'll have to talk to him..."

"What're you going on about?" Keith asked suspiciously. There was something very wrong with this kid. Good intentions or not, he didn't want to be anywhere near him right now.

"Don't ask," Bakura answered quickly. He spotted the scrap of blood-soaked cloth tied around Keith's leg. Gently, he peeked under it.

"Hey!" Keith protested. It didn't hurt any more than it had before, but he still didn't want this crazy kid touching him.

"Hold still," Bakura said. "You still are a jerk for trapping us in that cave, but you still don't deserve to bleed to death.

Keith grumbled, but stayed put. He'd hurt himself more trying to get away, he reasoned. Bakura slid off his shirt, revealing a tight undershirt, and started tying it over the first bandage.

"What's that?" Keith wondered aloud before he could stop himself, catching a glimpse of gold on Bakura's chest.

"Nothing," he replied quickly, pulling back. Keith, the treasure hunter that he was, couldn't take his eyes off of the millennium ring.

"That's a nice bit of gold you got there," he said hungrily. Bakura slid it off his neck and quickly pocketed it, eying Keith suspiciously. Keith scoffed, and leaned back against the wall.

"Not like I was gonna take it," he chuckled, raising his hands innocently. "You already beat the crap out of me."

"...sorry about that," Bakura mumbled apologetically, so quiet that Keith wasn't sure he heard right.

"I'll get you back the next time," he threatened, smirking. Bakura shook his head and walked away. Keith wouldn't have paid him another thought, but something caught his eye again. Why he had been looking at the boy's chest again, he didn't know, but on the stark white shirt, he swore he saw spots of blood.

"Hey," he called tenatively after Bakura, but the other just walked away. About halfway down the hallway, Keith watched him slip the gold ring out of his pocket and replace it around his neck. The bandit stood up slowly while he watched, testing his injured leg. It hurt, but at least he could stand on it now. He caught on last glimpse of Bakura before he disappeared around the corner. A killer's eyes met his own, and he shuddered when he saw Bakura smirk. He was immensely glad to be away from him, and, almost not realizing it because he was so used to not caring about anyone but himself, just a bit sorry for the crazy kid.

* * *

A/N: ...I actually kinda liked that fic. Oo;;


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